2009 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans 2009) was the 77th Grand Prix of Endurance, an endurance auto race run over 24 hours. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France, and was organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) over 13–14 June 2009 and was started by Fiat and Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo at 15:00 local time (13:00 UTC). A test day was initially scheduled for 31 May that year, but was canceled by the ACO due to economic concerns.[1] The race was attended by 234,800 spectators.[2]

2009 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 2008 Next: 2010
Index: Races | Winners
Circuit de la Sarthe track
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, car number 9, winner Le Mans 2009, beneath podium
Winning drivers of 24 Hours Le Mans on the podium, 14 June 2009

Peugeot succeeded in winning the race in the third year of the 908 HDi FAP program with drivers David Brabham, Marc Gené, and Alexander Wurz driving the No. 9 car for 382 laps; an all-French driving squad secured second place for Peugeot as well. Audi, who had won eight of the last ten Le Mans, finished third in their new R15 TDI. Team Essex gave Porsche their second LMP2 victory in a row, while the American Corvette Racing team earned their first GT1 win since 2006. Risi Competizione Ferrari led the GT2 category for their second straight victory in the class.[3]

Schedule

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Events for the 24 Hours of Le Mans began on 8 June with technical inspections, before initial practice began on 10 June. Due to the cancellation of the May test session, the Wednesday track session has been altered to free practice only, with no qualification times being recorded in the mostly wet session. Qualifying therefore only took place on Thursday, which remained dry.

Schedule
Date Time (local) Event
Monday, 8 June 14:30 – 18:00 Sporting Checks and Administrative scrutineering
Tuesday, 9 June 08:30 – 17:00 Sporting Checks and Administrative scrutineering
Wednesday, 10 June 18:00 – 24:00 Free practice
Thursday, 11 June 19:00 – 21:00 Qualifying
22:00 – 24:00
Friday, 12 June 10:00 – 20:00 Pit Walk
18:00 – 19:00 Drivers' parade in Le Mans City center
Saturday, 13 June 09:00 – 09:45 Warm-up
14:22 Beginning of starting procedure
15:00 Start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Sunday, 14 June 15:00 Finish of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Entries

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Automatic invitations

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Automatic entry to the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans was granted to teams that had performed well in the previous year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the 2008 seasons of the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, FIA GT Championship, and the Petit Le Mans.[4] New for 2009 was an automatic invitation awarded to the team which accumulated the most points in the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge, as part of the Le Mans Series. The award was based on fuel economy of competitors during each event.[5]

On 20 January 2009, the ACO announced that 15 of the 29 automatic invitations had been accepted by their recipients.[6] Entries with a blue background were granted entries, but did not accept their invitations.

Reason entered LMP1 LMP2 GT1 GT2
1st in 24 Hours of Le Mans   Audi Sport North America   Van Merksteijn Motorsport   Aston Martin Racing   Risi Competizione
2nd in 24 Hours of Le Mans   Team Peugeot Total   Team Essex   Corvette Racing   BMS Scuderia Italia
1st in Le Mans Series   Audi Sport Team Joest   Van Merksteijn Motorsport   Luc Alphand Aventures   Virgo Motorsport
2nd in Le Mans Series   Team Peugeot Total   Team Essex   Team Modena   Team Felbermayr-Proton
1st in Petit Le Mans   Audi Sport North America   Penske Motorsports, Inc.   Corvette Racing   Risi Competizione
1st in American Le Mans Series   Intersport Racing1   Penske Racing   Bell Motorsports2   Flying Lizard Motorsports
1st in FIA GT Championship   Vitaphone Racing Team   AF Corse
2nd in FIA GT Championship   Phoenix Carsport Racing   BMS Scuderia Italia
1st in Energy Endurance Challenge   Horag Racing
1. Due to Audi Sport North America already earning two entries (first in previous 24 Hours of Le Mans and first at Petit Le Mans), they could not receive the automatic invitation for also winning the American Le Mans Series championship. The entry was instead given to the team which finished second in the championship.[4]
2. Due to Corvette Racing already earning two entries (second in previous 24 Hours of Le Mans and first at Petit Le Mans), they could not receive the automatic invitation for also winning the American Le Mans Series championship. The entry was instead given to the team which finished second in the championship.[4]

Applications

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Prior to the deadline for applications, 82 separate entries by teams representing 17 countries were received by the ACO. This amount is only six less than the total of applications received for the previous running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The ACO Selection Committee decided on which teams were invited to fill the remaining 40 positions alongside those teams who had already received automatic invitations, along with ten reserve entries.[7]

Entry list

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On 26 February, the ACO announced their list of 55 entries which will be invited to take part in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. 21 cars within the LMP1 category include Audi, Peugeot, and Aston Martin with three cars each, as well as private entries for the Kolles Audis, Pescarolo Peugeot, and Speedy-Sebah Aston Martin. This also made a total of nine cars which would be using diesel fuel. LMP2 featured previous race winners Team Goh in a previous winning car, the Porsche RS Spyder, joined by last year's runner-up Team Essex. Mazda supplied engines for four entries, split amongst the Lola and Pescarolo chassis.

The GT1 category was fought amongst three manufacturers, as Corvette Racing and Luc Alphand Aventures attempted to overcome the two private Aston Martin and Lamborghini entries. GT2 was once again dominated by the Ferrari and Porsche battle, although Ferrari had the power of numbers with its ten entries compared to Porsche's five. Sole entries from Spyker and the Drayson Aston Martin completed the GT2 field.[8]

Reserve entries

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Ten entries are granted a reserve entry, in case an entry from the list of 55 withdraws prior to the event. These ten entries will be allowed to join the race entry list in the order they are listed here, regardless of their class.[8]

On 31 March, Gigawave Motorsport withdrew their Aston Martin from the GT1 category of the entry list in order to concentrate on their development of the Nissan GT-R program. This promoted Advanced Engineering/Team Seattle from the reserve list to the entry list.[9] Three days later Epsilon Euskadi withdrew their LMP1 entry which was replaced by the Endurance China Team. Epsilon Euskadi also withdrew their second entry from the reserve list.[10] On 29 April, it was announced that Vitaphone Racing withdrew their LMP2 entry and was replaced by a second IMSA Performance Matmut GT2 entry. Racing Box also announced that they withdrew their LMP2 reserve entry.[11] IPB Spartak Racing announced their withdrawal from the event on 15 May because one of their drivers, Peter Kox, was unable to participate in the race. It was replaced by the Barazi-Epsilon LMP2 entry.[12]

On 22 May, reserve entries were no longer able to be accepted into the race, regardless of further withdrawals. The entries of Gerard Welter's WR-Zytek LMP2, Team Felbermayr-Proton's Porsche GT2, Snoras Spyker Squadron's Spyker GT2, and Larbre Compétition's Saleen GT1 were the only remaining reserves at the time of the entry list closure.[8]

Free practice

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After the cancellation of the test session, Wednesday's schedule was changed from a qualifying session to a six-hour free practice. Track conditions varied as rain arrived several times during the practice, limiting the amount of time available with a dry circuit. Audi led the session with Allan McNish setting a fastest lap of 3:30.708 in the No. 1 car, followed immediately by the No. 2 Audi. The best Peugeot was the No. 9 car, followed immediately by the privately entered Pescarolo Sport Peugeot. The fastest LMP1 not running a diesel engine was the second Pescarolo entry with a time of 3:35.868, followed by the No. 008 and No. 007 Aston Martins.

The LMP2 category was led by the Porsche RS Spyders, with Team Essex's 3:46.426 ahead of the Navi Team Goh entry. Quifel ASM Team's Ginetta-Zytek was a distant third, ten seconds behind Team Essex. Corvette Racing were at the front of GT1, with the No. 63's 3:57.876 lap time ahead of the No. 64 car. Jetalliance Racing were third while the two Luc Alphand Corvettes did few laps after fixing an incorrectly installed rollcage and the JLOC Lamborghini did not complete a lap after breaking a driveshaft. Porsche were ahead of Ferrari in the GT2 category, with Felbermayr-Proton ahead of the Risi Competizione. Spyker Squadron were able to reach third in the class.[13]

The only major incident of the practice session was an accident by KSM's driver Jean de Pourtales. The driver spun approaching the Dunlop Chicane, impacting a concrete barrier before sliding into a tire barrier. The second impact ripped much of the rear of the car off.[14]

Qualifying

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Stéphane Sarrazin claimed his third consecutive pole position at Le Mans,[15] planting the No. 8 Peugeot at the front of the field with a lap time of 3:22.888. He set the lap on the third of his flying laps during a run near the end of the four-hour qualifying session, bettering Allan McNish's lap time by 0.8 seconds. McNish's lap was set on the final lap of the first two-hour qualifying session,[16] beating the Peugeot of Franck Montagny who led much of the first session.[17] McNish's lap remained at the top of the charts for much of the second session until Sarrazin's performance. Peugeot planned to practice race setups during the entire qualifying session, and were not seeking to obtain the pole position.[18]

At the end of qualifying Peugeots filled the next three places on the grid behind the front row with the car of Pescarolo Sport settling in at fourth fastest. Aston Martin were able to secure the fastest lap for a petrol-powered car, with the No. 007 entry on a few thousandths of a second behind the No. 3 Audi and followed by the No. 008 Aston Martin and No. 13 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Aston Martin.

The Porsche RS Spyders continued their dominance in the LMP2 category, with Casper Elgaard of Team Essex ahead of Team Goh with a lap time of 3:37.720. Third in the category was the No. 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola-Judd which was over three seconds behind the Porsches. Corvette Racing secured the front row in the GT1 category, with Jan Magnussen's No. 63 entry half a second ahead of the No. 64 sister car. Jetalliance Racing's privately entered Aston Martin was under two seconds behind, and followed immediately by the two Luc Alphand Corvettes. The JLOC Lamborghini struggled with mechanical issues and was never able to lift itself from last place on grid.

The GT2 category was led by Porsche who bested their rivals Ferrari with two cars. Pole winner Flying Lizard Motorsports' 4:03.202 was less than a tenth of a second ahead of the No. 77 Felbermayr-Proton car. Risi Competizione led the Ferrari fight with a third place qualifying time, joined by JMB Racing and BMS Scuderia Italia. The Aston Martin of Drayson Racing was ninth in the category, while the Spyker was eleventh.

Several incidents occurred during the qualifying session. The Pescarolo Peugeot drive by Jean-Christophe Boullion spun at the Tetre Rouge corner and ripped the left front fender off the car after impacting the wall. The Peugeot was able to return to the pits and be repaired.[19] The No. 007 Aston Martin also hit a wall after losing control during braking for the second chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. Jan Charouz was traveling at 270 km/h (170 mph) at the time of the incident. The incident occurred in the closing minutes of qualifying, but the car was repaired.[20]

Qualifying results

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Despite using a 2008-spec Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, Pescarolo Sport qualified fourth.
 
Drivers Seth Neiman, Darren Law, and Jörg Bergmeister earned the pole position in the GT2 class for Flying Lizard Motorsports.

Class leaders are in bold.[21]

Pos No. Team Car Class Time Gap
1 8 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 3:22.888
2 1 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI LMP1 3:23.650 +0.762
3 7 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 3:24.860 +1.972
4 17 Pescarolo Sport Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 3:25.062 +2.174
5 9 Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 3:25.252 +2.364
6 2 Audi Sport North America Audi R15 TDI LMP1 3:25.780 +2.892
7 3 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI LMP1 3:27.106 +4.218
8 007 AMR Eastern Europe Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 3:27.180 +4.292
9 008 Aston Martin Racing Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 3:27.704 +4.816
10 13 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola B08/60-Aston Martin LMP1 3:28.134 +5.246
11 23 Strakka Racing Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S LMP1 3:29.798 +6.910
12 16 Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo 01-Judd LMP1 3:30.466 +7.578
13 15 Kolles Audi R10 TDI LMP1 3:31.192 +8.304
14 14 Kolles Audi R10 TDI LMP1 3:31.548 +8.660
15 10 Team Oreca Matmut AIM Oreca 01-AIM LMP1 3:33.514 +10.626
16 11 Team Oreca Matmut AIM Oreca 01-AIM LMP1 3:33.860 +10.972
17 009 Aston Martin Racing Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 3:33.968 +11.080
18 6 Team LNT Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S LMP1 3:35.804 +12.916
19 4 Creation Autosportif Creation CA07 LMP1 3:36.552 +13.072
20 31 Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder Evo LMP2 3:37.720 +14.832
21 5 Navi Team Goh Porsche RS Spyder Evo LMP2 3:37.802 +14.914
22 12 Signature Plus Courage-Oreca LC70E-Judd LMP1 3:39.326 +16.438
23 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola B08/80-Judd LMP2 3:41.724 +18.836
24 25 RML Lola B08/80-Mazda MZR-R LMP2 3:41.952 +19.064
25 40 Quifel ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 LMP2 3:42.012 +19.124
26 30 Racing Box Lola B08/80-Judd LMP2 3:42.848 +19.960
27 41 GAC Racing Team Zytek 07S/2 LMP2 3:44.830 +21.942
28 35 OAK Racing Pescarolo 01-Mazda MZR-R LMP2 3:45.032 +22.144
29 32 Barazi-Epsilon Zytek 07S/2 LMP2 3:52.956 +30.068
30 39 KSM Lola B07/46 LMP2 3:53.072 +30.184
31 63 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 3:54.230 +31.342
32 64 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 3:54.702 +31.814
33 26 Bruichladdich-Bruneau Team Radical SR9-AER LMP2 3:55.320 +32.432
34 66 Jetalliance Racing Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 3:56.126 +33.238
35 72 Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 3:57.170 +34.282
36 24 OAK Racing Pescarolo 01-Mazda MZR-R LMP2 3:57.524 +34.636
37 73 Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 4:00.528 +35.676
38 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT2 4:03.202 +40.314
39 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT2 4:03.232 +40.344
40 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:04.056 +41.168
41 99 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:04.084 +41.196
42 97 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:04.222 +41.334
43 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT2 4:04.648 +41.760
44 78 AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:04.938 +42.050
45 92 JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:05.168 +42.280
46 87 Drayson Racing Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 GT2 4:06.482 +43.594
47 89 Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:06.612 +43.724
48 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R-Audi GT2 4:08.348 +45.460
49 84 Team Modena Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:08.508 +45.620
50 83 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:08.758 +45.870
51 70 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT2 4:10.014 +47.126
52 75 Endurance Asia Team Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT2 4:10.456 +47.568
53 96 Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:10.664 +47.776
54 81 Advanced Engineering Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:13.920 +51.032
55 68 JLOC Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT GT1 4:21.812 +58.924

Race

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New rules have caused the diesels to become considerably slower than the previous year. Peugeot qualified 4 seconds slower than 2008 but still maintained the speed advantage over the new Audi R15. Audi's lack of testing meant that the cars struggled to get any sort of a good setup. All works drivers complained about understeer in the Le Mans aero package on the R15. Tom Kristensen commented that the high-downforce package like the one used at Sebring were much better. The R15 also struggled to get beyond a double-stint.

 
The No. 82 Ferrari F430 GT2 of Risi Competizione took first place in GT2

The race began at 15:00 local time (UTC+2) 13 June 2009, with Franck Montagny in the pole position Peugeot 908 HDi FAP leading the field. The race was started by the waving of the French tricolour by Fiat and Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, honoring the 60th anniversary of Ferrari's first victory at Le Mans.[22]

In the LMP1 class, the Peugeots showed they could maintain a pace that the Audis struggled to maintain over the full run. The #7 Peugeot was released too early and hit from the side by the Pescarolo Peugeot. The initial damage was a small puncture but the resulting damage destroyed the whole left rear end of the car. Two of the three Audis had off-track excursions in the first 12 hours; one resulting in the #2 car being out of the race on lap 104. During the early evening, the #1 Audi lost a lap to the leading Peugeot. Further technical issues would see it lose another seven laps in total to the winner. In LMP2, the Navi Team Goh Porsche RS Spyder qualified 2nd overall and maintained a solid pace until crashing heavily with one hour to go, allowing the pole-sitting #31 Team Essex Porsche to carry on to the win.

 
The No. 63 works team Corvette C6.R took pole and first place in GT1

In GT1, the final outing of the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R as a factory team at Le Mans ended well, with the #63 car driven by O'Connell, Magnussen and García sitting on the pole and finishing first in class. Magnussen was sick early on, which left O'Connell and Garcia to finish the race as a two-driver team. Several other teams were stricken with the loss of a driver, most notable being the LMP1 #009 Lola-Aston, whose driver Stuart Hall was excluded when he collided with the LMP2 #26 Radical, and the stewards determined his fault to be substantial. Another team with a driver that was excluded was Kolles' Narain Karthikeyan as he dislocated his shoulder going over the pitwall before the race, leaving Charles Zwolsman Jr. and André Lotterer to do the whole 24 hours, yet they finished a respectable 7th in P1 and 7th overall.

In GT2, Ferrari celebrated their 60th Anniversary win with Ferraris taking the first 4 spots, the Risi Competizione #82 Ferrari F430 GT2 heading the class.

New rules requiring only one man with one airgun in the pits were aimed to lower the overall costs of the event by causing teams to double or triple stint tires due to the time needed to replace them.

Race results

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Class winners are marked in bold. Cars running at the finish but failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance are marked as Not Classified.[23]

Pos Class
Pos.
Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 1 LMP1 9   Peugeot Sport Total   David Brabham
  Marc Gené
  Alexander Wurz
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 382
Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
2 2 LMP1 8   Team Peugeot Total   Franck Montagny
  Sébastien Bourdais
  Stéphane Sarrazin
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 381
Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
3 3 LMP1 1   Audi Sport Team Joest   Tom Kristensen
  Allan McNish
  Rinaldo Capello
Audi R15 TDI M 376
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
4 4 LMP1 007   AMR Eastern Europe   Jan Charouz
  Tomáš Enge
  Stefan Mücke
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 M 373
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
5 5 LMP1 11   Team Oreca Matmut AIM   Olivier Panis
  Nicolas Lapierre
  Soheil Ayari
Oreca 01 M 370
AIM YS5.5 5.5 L V10
6 6 LMP1 7   Team Peugeot Total   Nicolas Minassian
  Pedro Lamy
  Christian Klien
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 369
Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
7 7 LMP1 14   Kolles[a]   Charles Zwolsman Jr.
  André Lotterer
Audi R10 TDI M 369
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
8 8 LMP1 16   Pescarolo Sport   Christophe Tinseau
  Bruce Jouanny
  João Barbosa
Pescarolo 01 M 368
Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10
9 9 LMP1 15   Kolles   Christian Bakkerud
  Christijan Albers
  Giorgio Mondini
Audi R10 TDI M 360
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
10 1 LMP2 31   Team Essex   Casper Elgaard
  Kristian Poulsen
  Emmanuel Collard
Porsche RS Spyder Evo M 357
Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8
11 10 LMP1 12   Signature Plus   Pierre Ragues
  Franck Mailleux
  Didier André
Courage-Oreca LC70E M 344
Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10
12 2 LMP2 33   Speedy Racing Team
  Sebah Automotive
  Benjamin Leuenberger
  Xavier Pompidou
  Jonny Kane
Lola B08/80 M 343
Judd DB 3.4 L V8
13 11 LMP1 008   Aston Martin Racing   Anthony Davidson
  Darren Turner
  Jos Verstappen
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 M 342
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
14 12 LMP1 13   Speedy Racing Team
  Sebah Automotive
  Andrea Belicchi
  Nicolas Prost
  Neel Jani
Lola B08/60 M 342
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
15 1 GT1 63   Corvette Racing   Johnny O'Connell
  Jan Magnussen
  Antonio García
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 342
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
16 2 GT1 73   Luc Alphand Aventures   Xavier Maassen
  Yann Clairay
  Julien Jousse
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R D 336
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
17 13 LMP1 3   Audi Sport Team Joest   Timo Bernhard
  Romain Dumas
  Alexandre Prémat
Audi R15 TDI M 333
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
18 1 GT2 82   Risi Competizione   Jaime Melo
  Pierre Kaffer
  Mika Salo
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 329
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
19 2 GT2 97   BMS Scuderia Italia   Fabio Babini
  Matteo Malucelli
  Paolo Ruberti
Ferrari F430 GT2 P 327
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
20 3 LMP2 24   OAK Racing
  Team Mazda France
  Jacques Nicolet
  Richard Hein
  Jean-François Yvon
Pescarolo 01 D 325
Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4
21 14 LMP1 23   Strakka Racing   Nick Leventis
  Peter Hardman
  Danny Watts
Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S M 325
Zytek ZJ458 4.5 L V8
22 3 GT2 83   Risi Competizione
  Krohn Racing
  Tracy Krohn
  Eric van de Poele
  Niclas Jönsson
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 323
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
23 4 GT2 92   JMW Motorsport   Rob Bell
  Andrew Kirkaldy
  Tim Sugden
Ferrari F430 GT2 D 320
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
24 15 LMP1 4   Creation Autosportif   Jamie Campbell-Walter
  Vanina Ickx
  Romain Iannetta
Creation CA07 M 319
Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10
25 5 GT2 85   Snoras Spyker Squadron   Tom Coronel
  Jeroen Bleekemolen
  Jaroslav Janiš
Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R M 319
Audi 3.8 L V8
26 6 GT2 78   AF Corse   Gianmaria Bruni
  Luis Pérez Companc
  Matías Russo
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 317
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
27 7 GT2 84   Team Modena   Leo Mansell
  Pierre Ehret
  Roman Rusinov
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 314
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
28 4 LMP2 32   Barazi-Epsilon   Juan Barazi
  Phil Bennett
  Stuart Moseley
Zytek 07S/2 D 306
Zytek 2ZG348 3.4 L V8
29 8 GT2 99   JMB Racing   Manuel Rodrigues
  Yvan Lebon
  Christophe Bouchut
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 304
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
30 9 GT2 81   Advanced Engineering
  Team Seattle
  Patrick Dempsey
  Don Kitch Jr.
  Joe Foster
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 301
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
31 3 GT1 66   Jetalliance Racing   Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer
  Thomas Gruber
  Alex Müller
Aston Martin DBR9 M 294
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
32 10 GT2 96   Virgo Motorsport   Sean McInerney
  Michael McInerney
  Michael Vergers
Ferrari F430 GT2 D 280
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
Not Classified
33 11 GT2 75   Endurance Asia Team
  Perspective Racing
  Darryl O'Young
  Philippe Hesnault
  Plamen Kralev
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR D 186
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
Did Not Finish
34 5 LMP2 5   Navi Team Goh   Seiji Ara
  Keisuke Kunimoto
  Sascha Maassen
Porsche RS Spyder Evo M 339
Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8
35 4 GT1 64   Corvette Racing   Oliver Gavin
  Olivier Beretta
  Marcel Fässler
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 311
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
36 6 LMP2 25   RML   Thomas Erdos
  Mike Newton
  Chris Dyson
Lola B08/86 M 273
Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4
37 12 GT2 87   Drayson Racing   Paul Drayson
  Jonny Cocker
  Marino Franchitti
Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 M 272
Aston Martin 4.5 L V8
38 13 GT2 76   IMSA Performance Matmut   Patrick Pilet
  Raymond Narac
  Patrick Long
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 265
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
39 7 LMP2 39   KSM   Hideki Noda
  Jean de Pourtales
  Matthew Marsh
Lola B07/46 D 261
Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4
40 16 LMP1 009   Aston Martin Racing   Stuart Hall
  Harold Primat
  Peter Kox
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 M 252
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
41 17 LMP1 10   Team Oreca Matmut AIM   Stéphane Ortelli
  Bruno Senna
  Tiago Monteiro
Oreca 01 M 219
AIM YS5.5 5.5 L V10
42 18 LMP1 17   Pescarolo Sport   Simon Pagenaud
  Jean-Christophe Boullion
  Benoît Tréluyer
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 210
Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
43 8 LMP2 35   OAK Racing
  Team Mazda France
  Matthieu Lahaye
  Guillaume Moreau
  Karim Ajlani
Pescarolo 01 D 208
Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L I4
44 9 LMP2 30   Racing Box   Andrea Piccini
  Thomas Biagi
  Matteo Bobbi
Lola B08/80 M 203
Judd DB 3.4 L V8
45 14 GT2 80   Flying Lizard Motorsports   Jörg Bergmeister
  Darren Law
  Seth Neiman
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 194
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
46 15 GT2 89   Hankook Team Farnbacher   Dominik Farnbacher
  Allan Simonsen
  Christian Montanari
Ferrari F430 GT2 H 183
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
47 19 LMP1 6   Team LNT   Lawrence Tomlinson
  Richard Dean
  Nigel Moore
Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S M 178
Zytek ZG408 4.0 L V8
48 20 LMP1 2   Audi Sport North America   Marco Werner
  Lucas Luhr
  Mike Rockenfeller
Audi R15 TDI M 104
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
49 10 LMP2 41   GAC Racing Team   Karim Ojjeh
  Claude-Yves Gosselin
  Philipp Peter
Zytek 07S/2 M 102
Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
50 16 GT2 70   IMSA Performance Matmut
  Team Felbermayr-Proton
  Michel Lecourt
  Horst Felbermayr
  Horst Felbermayr Jr.
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 102
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
51 5 GT1 72   Luc Alphand Aventures   Luc Alphand
  Stéphan Grégoire
  Patrice Goueslard
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R D 99
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
52 11 LMP2 26   Bruichladdich-Bruneau Team   Pierre Bruneau
  Marc Rostan
  Tim Greaves
Radical SR9 D 91
AER P07 2.0 L Turbo I4
53 12 LMP2 40   Quifel ASM Team   Miguel Amaral
  Olivier Pla
  Guy Smith
Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 D 46
Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
54 17 GT2 77   Team Felbermayr-Proton   Marc Lieb
  Wolf Henzler
  Richard Lietz
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 24
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
55 6 GT1 68   JLOC   Atsushi Yogo
  Yutaka Yamagishi
  Marco Apicella
Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT Y 1
Lamborghini 6.0 L V12

Statistics

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  • Fastest Lap – #7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP – 3:24.352
  • Best speed – Peugeot 908 HDi FAP – 341 km/h
  • Distance – 5206.28 km

Peugeot protest

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An Audi R15 TDI during scrutineering. Michelin decals are placed on one of the protested aerodynamic elements.

On Monday, 8 June, following scrutineering and approval of the Audi R15 TDI by the ACO, Peugeot Sport director Olivier Quesnel stated that the team may file a protest over the legality of certain elements of the R15 TDI's design. This protest was officially filed two days later, immediately before the start of practice. Peugeot believes that the R15 features aerodynamic elements on the front of the car which violate the ACO's regulations about devices which may increase the amount of front downforce. Peugeot, as well as fellow competitors Aston Martin Racing and Oreca, initially questioned these aerodynamic elements at the 2009 12 Hours of Sebring in March, but were assured that the ACO would evaluate them prior to Le Mans.[25][26]

Later that night, Peugeot received a response from the ACO stating that it would not uphold the protest. The ACO stated that they have the ability through their own regulations to determine if an aerodynamic element's sole purpose is to create downforce. Peugeot responded within an hour by appealing this decision.[27][28] A decision on this appeal however would not be made until after the race had taken place, thus allowing Audi to continue to compete.[29] Audi stated that they believed the matter was between Peugeot and the ACO, and that their car was legal.[26]

Following the race, Peugeot announced that they were withdrawing their appeal of the scrutineer's decision. Peugeot cited a planned increase in communication between manufacturers and the ACO as their reasoning for the withdrawal.[30]

Notes

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  1. ^ Narain Karthikeyan, who was nominated as the starting driver for the No. 14 Kolles entry, dislocated his shoulder going over the pitwall before the formation lap. He was unable to take part in the race and was therefore not credited with seventh place.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "24 Heures du Mans 2009: Test Day Cancelled". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2008-12-01. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  2. ^ "234 800 at the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 14 June 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  3. ^ "Peugeot win Le Mans 24-hour race". BBC Sport. 2009-06-14. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  4. ^ a b c "24 Heures du Mans 2009: 29 Entrants Automatically Selected". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2008-11-24. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  5. ^ "Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge". Le Mans Series. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  6. ^ Marcel ten Caat (2009-01-20). "15 teams confirm their Le Mans 24 entry". Planet Le Mans. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  7. ^ "24 Heures du Mans : 82 Entries for 55 Places!". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-01-29. [permanent dead link]
  8. ^ a b c "The 55 entrants invited, like a dream..." Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-02-26. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
  9. ^ "Withdrawal of Gigawave Aston Martin. Team Seattle invited..." Endurance-Info.com. 2009-03-31. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  10. ^ "Withdrawal of the Epsilon Euskadi Team's Epsilon Euskadi-Judd (LMP1)". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-04-03. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  11. ^ "24 Heures du Mans 2009, Withdrawal of the Vitaphone Racing Team (LM P2) and of the Racing Box SRL (LM P2: reserve)". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-04-29. Archived from the original on May 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  12. ^ "IPB Spartak Racing withdraws LM24 entry, Barazi invited". Marcel ten Caat. 2009-05-15. Archived from the original on 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  13. ^ "Free Practice – After 6 Hours" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  14. ^ Marcel ten Caat (2009-06-11). "24 Hours of Le Mans 2009 – Free Practice Report". PlanetLeMans.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  15. ^ "Outstanding performance by Stéphane Sarrazin putting Peugeot on third pole in a row". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2009-06-12. [permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "Allan McNish on provisional pole on the last lap of the session". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-12. [permanent dead link]
  17. ^ "Two Peugeots lead after the first hour". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-12. [permanent dead link]
  18. ^ Tom Haapanen (2009-06-11). "Sarrazine takes Le Mans pole for Peugeot". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  19. ^ "J.C.Boullion comes back "naked" to his pit". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-12. [permanent dead link]
  20. ^ Stuart Codling (2009-06-12). "Charouz: Low downforce caused crash". Autosport.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  21. ^ "Qualifying Practice 1 – After 4 Hours" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-12. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  22. ^ "Luca di Montezemolo, Honour Starter of the 24 Heures du Mans 2009". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
  23. ^ "Race – After 24 Hours" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  24. ^ "Freak injury forces Karthikeyan out of Le Mans". The Times of India. 14 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  25. ^ "Press Release: Team Peugeot Total". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2009-06-12.[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ a b Tom Haapenen (2009-06-10). "Audi says R15 aero confirmed as legal". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  27. ^ Marcel ten Caat (2009-06-11). "ACO rejects Peugeot protest, Peugeot appeals". PlanetLeMans.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  28. ^ "Team Peugeot-Total appeals decision..." Endurance-Info.com. 2009-06-11. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  29. ^ Tom Haapanen (2009-06-11). "ACO denies protest, Peugeot appeals". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  30. ^ "Peugeot Sport retire son appel auprès de la FIA" (in French). Endurance-Info.com. 2009-07-02. Archived from the original on 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
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